Electronic devices such as transistors and circuit interconnections therefore are often formed within ceramic material so as to create what is variously referred to as a chip, die or integrated circuit. The term die will be used herein. In many applications the die are subjected to wide changes in temperature or pressure and in others they are subjected to moisture. In order to reduce the adverse effects that such environmental conditions would have on operation, the die have been mounted within hermetically sealed packages that are designed to maintain the structural integrity of the die. It is also important that the package be designed so that the magnetic fields created by currents flowing in the circuit do not adversely affect its operation.
Because of the highly competitive nature of the die manufacturing business, it is very important that the package can be economically assembled, and because the die must be highly reliable, it is also important that they can be tested before the full expense of assembly has occurred.
Packages are generally designed in such manner as to easily accommodate only one die, so that if more die are to be used, an entirely different concept must be developed so as not to add significantly to the cost.